


Hidden in Plain Sight

by bar2d2s



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, hidden in plain sight AU, man I wonder where I got the title from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bar2d2s/pseuds/bar2d2s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magic fell when men came, and the Courts left this world. Those that remained chose to blend in rather than hide, and for nearly a century, the Transformed lived in peace. Now, the goblins want to come up from underground. To prevent a war, two royal houses need to mix, and no one is happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It had been an evolution born of necessity. 

As the humans expanded their borders, the forest fae of both courts found they had only two options; blend, or leave.

The majority of Unseelie chose to leave, find a new plane of being to live in. Anything was better than being forced into a human’s shape, living life obscured by a hideous glamour. The prouder of the Seelie left as well, unwilling to bind their wings with magic, too vain to snip their ears. They’d avoided humans for so long for a  _reason_ , becoming them was the ultimate betrayal.

But still, there were those who chose to stay.

It took time, and a lot of magic, but eventually all those left behind found ways to adopt new forms for this strange new world. Pixies became birds with the voices of women, imps became cats. Most gobs chose reptilian shapes, to better hide in the darkest, dankest corners of reality. Faeries and elves became human.

In the long run, the elves had it a bit easier, for once. A whisper to change size, to add extra fingers and toes, and poof, they were done. For the squeamish that refused to clip their ears, small glamours were implemented, so the humans would never know, and their own kind would be able to pick them out. The most complicated spells were expended on the faeries.

Bodies grew tall. Ears were rounded, faces narrowed, eyes shrank. Wings shriveled and thinned, permanently bonding to the skin in wondrous patterns. The ethereal became earthly, and many wept in sorrow, knowing they could never turn back. Their courts had left this realm and with these transformations, they’d been cast out.

No longer immortal, Seelie and Unseelie alike ventured out to form towns, and eventually mixed their communities with humans. Though the towns differed from country to country, the translated name was always the same: Woodhaven.

It was in one of these towns that a former monarch settled with his two daughters, positive that this place would hold the peace they’d been searching for.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, the prologue was short. Have an actual chapter.

Ronnie Fairwood had exactly two priorities in his life, and their names were Dawn and Marianne.

In the hundred years since they’d undergone the transformation, the Fairwoods had been nomads. It wasn’t an unusual thing, for a family to pack up and switch havens every other decade, to keep the humans unaware. While a transformed fae was mortal, they  _still_  didn’t age like a human would. It had taken him centuries to reach his comfortably middle aged look, and it would be decades more before his eldest would start to notice any grey in her hair.

Wherever they settled, though, they were still forest folk, and so there was only one real trade for them to ply.

"You know what my least favorite thing about being human is?" Dawn asked, pulling a few pins out of her hair to keep the corsage she was working on tight and together. Her sister stood up straight, head whipping around to check for customers.

” _Dawn_!” Marianne hissed, and the smaller girl laughed.

"Oh, relax! It’s just us and Sunny in here. Do you really think I’m  _that_  dumb?” Her mouth tightened. “Don’t answer that.”

With a heaving sigh, Marianne slumped over the front counter. Business had been crawling lately, that post-Valentines, pre-Easter slump that encompassed the whole of March. Boredom had made them  _all_  a bit snappy. “You’re not dumb, Dawn, but I  _know_  you know better than to talk about this stuff in-” She cut herself off, shaking her head. “Okay, what do you like least about being human, sis?” If Dawn’s wings had still been corporeal, they would have been quivering with delight. Marianne  _never_  broke the rules like this.

"Body hair!" She huffed out, and Marianne snickered. "I mean, seriously! Where does that even  _come_  from?!”

"Uh, our bodies?" Marianne offered, and Dawn pitched the broken head of a carnation at her, laughing.

"Ugh, what is  _up_  with that? Why’ve we got this useless stuff that we’ve got to  _shave_  all the time?” It was a rhetorical question, but her sister still felt the need to answer.

"You know, you don’t have to bother with it. I don’t." Of course, unlike her, Dawn favored floaty dresses and skirts. Humans, with their strange fixation on female body hair, would be cruel if Dawn’s exposed arms and legs looked anything like her covered ones. 

"I really don’t see the issue?" Sunny rolled up one of his sleeves, baring his arm. Elves were a generally hairier people than faeries, and he’d found that his human form was no different from his true body. Just taller.

The sisters laughed, and Dawn reached out to smooth her hand over the soft hair of his forearm. Sunny was one of the few elves from his village that had chosen to stay, and even though he’d been human almost as long as they had, there were still some things that never quite made the translation.

"There isn’t really any human social stigma surrounding body hair on guys." Marianne explained, pulling up the leg of her jeans. The hair there was dark, like the hair on her head, and Sunny shrugged. "I mean, maybe some people care, but not nearly as much as people care about leg hair on women. You know that No Shave November thing? How big a deal human men were making about excluding women from it, saying how women who don’t shave are disgusting?" She made a face. "It’s just stupid."

"I still wanna get that zappy treatment." Dawn said with a sigh, boxing up her finished piece for the cooler. "Get rid of it all and just be done with it."

"Well, it’s not cheap. Start saving your pennies, sis." Marianne teased, hauling herself onto the counter, to rest her tired feet. Another disadvantage of a human body: her feet hurt basically all the time.

Their conversation died away as the door’s bell clanged. Marianne hopped off the counter, turning around. The strangest pair had entered the store; a short, middle-aged woman with huge spectacles and a bigger smile, and a tall, lanky man with a hooked nose and a dour expression. If she hadn’t known better, Marianne would have thought them goblins.

But goblins didn’t take human shapes.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely, and the man startled. As if he hadn’t realized that there was anyone in the store. The woman’s smile somehow widened.

"Oh no, dear. Just taking in the greenery." Her croaky voice made Marianne’s heart freeze in her chest. Humans,  _real_  humans, didn’t sound like that. Only one kind of creature she’d ever known sounded like that.

 _Gobs_. In  _human_  form. She was sure of it.

"Sunny," She murmured out of the corner of her mouth. "Take Dawn into the freezer and keep her there." The short man looked from her to the customers, then back. "Do it!  _Go_!” The gobs hadn’t seen anyone but her, yet. If they took her out, Dawn would still be safe.

It wasn’t until she heard the soft click of the freezer closing that she made her move.

Their store had no gun or sword for protection, but it had been raining heavily lately, and she was still a warrior, even after a hundred years of peace. Seizing the closest long-range item, she jumped out from behind the counter, brandishing it at them.

"Get out! Get out of here or I’ll-" 

"Beat us with your umbrella?" The man scoffed at her makeshift weapon, moving the tip away from him with one long finger. "What’s this about, missy?" Her blood curdled in her veins.

” _I know what you are_.” She growled, and his eyebrows shot up, gaze going to her arms. Peeking out from the sleeves of her shirt were the unmistakable marks, her ‘tattoos’.

Her wings.

"Faerie." He growled back, voice rumbling deep in his chest. A shiver shot up her spine, but she shook it off.

"Gobs don’t take human shape." She spat at him, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the woman wince. "What are you planning? Invasion? War? Go back to your sewer!"

"Maybe we should!" He replied, voice full of venom. "Anything to get away from this typical faerie arrogance. Think the surface world is yours alone, do you?"

The ridiculousness of the situation apparently forgotten, the man had drawn his own umbrella and just as it seemed they were about to duel, in he swept. Ronnie Fairwood. Or as he’d once been known, Oberon, the king of faerie.

"Marianne!" He cried, rushing past the gobins to pull his daughter back, causing her to drop her weapon. She struggled in his arms, trying to get free. "Marianne, calm down!"

"They’re gobs, dad!" She cried, pointing. "Gobs in human shape!"

"I  _know_.” He said, exasperated, and she stilled. “Marianne, I invited them here.” He turned his attention to the woman, ducking his head in deference. “My apologies, Lady Griselda.” She clicked her tongue, waving a hand.

"No, no. I assumed she’d been informed. We really should have waited for you, this was my mistake." Marianne looked at the woman, then at her father, confusion in every line of her face.

"Dad?"

Ronnie cleared his throat, releasing his daughter, who had stopped struggling. The tall man was looking down at the woman in confusion. Whatever was going to happen today, he wasn’t in on it, either.

"Marianne, this is Lady Griselda and her son, the Bog King of the Dark Forest." She looked up at him incredulously. The Dark Forest had been their opposite number, in the old days, its residents their fiercest enemies. He continued on, ignoring the looks he was getting.

"The goblins that stayed have grown tired of their reptilian forms, and want to live in the open. That is, of course, impossible so long as the majority of the non-human populations of the various havens are faerie. For several years now, Lady Griselda and I have been discussing ways to let the bad blood between us mend, and we’ve finally come up with a solution."

Her heart stopped. Ronnie was old fashioned, and there was really only one way that problems of this nature were solved in the old country.

"Meet your new husband."


	3. Chapter 2

Before his beloved Titania had passed on, she’d told him, “Protect the bloodline.” And he’d tried, really he had.

Marianne had been engaged once, to a faerie man of high birth. Roland had been brave, and handsome, and charming…and an absolute louse who was, in fact, already married to a lovely young woman of considerably lower birth than the princess. Marianne had found him out days before their wedding and called the whole thing off, swearing to never fall in love again.

His youngest was a bit trickier. Dawn had never been in love, but she definitely knew the sharp sting of helpless infatuation. Her crushes were short-lived, and  _never_  bore fruit, but they were strong, and often strange. Too often, Ronnie found himself face to face with a human boy in his doorway, calling on his daughter. He was getting used to the modern world, but  _that_ was a bit too untraditional, for his tastes.

As the years wore on, it seemed like neither of his daughters would ever settle down, and that just would not do. He no longer had a kingdom to rule, but he would  _not_  be the last king of faerie. One of his children  _needed_   to continue the bloodline.

And that was when the letters had started coming.

At first, they’d been handwritten on pulp parchment, and left on his doorstep. Then he’d introduced their sender to the idea of public libraries and email. Much less conspicuous. 

Griselda was the mother of the Bog King, whose subjects had spent the last hundred years below ground in caverns and dank sewers, living as reptiles that spoke with human voices. And many of them were bored of it.

"There are talks of rebellion, King Oberon." She’d written, distress in every pixellated word. "Of taking a surface haven by force. I don’t want that, and I know  _you_  don’t want that, so I think we’d better get to finding a solution, before the dissenters get sick of talking and decide to act.”

In the end, it had taken nearly two years of suggestions, counter-suggestions, and arguments, but they had their solution.

And no one was happy about it.

"What?!" Bog roared, whirling on his mother. Marianne just stood rooted to the spot, frozen in absolute horror.

” _You_  are the king of what’s left of our people. Oberon hasn’t been an acting king in a century, but his people still trust his judgement. Marry a faerie princess to a goblin king, with his blessing, and the other fae won’t have any  _choice_  but to let us come above ground! It’s a perfect solution!”

"I won’t do it." He declared, hands fisted at his sides. Meanwhile, Ronnie was trying desperately to get some sort of reaction out of his daughter.

"Marianne, it won’t be that bad. It’s just a, a political union! It’s not like we’re asking you to have  _children_ , just present a united front when it comes to the goblins being retransformed for surface life. I mean, unless you  _want_  to have children, that wouldn’t be a terrible thing.” Nothing. He sighed. “Where is your sister? Dawn was supposed to be here today.” That snapped her out of it.

"I had her hide in the freezer." She said softly, gritting her teeth. "Because I thought we were having some kind of  _goblin invasion_  coming into the store. Sunny’s with her. I should-” Marianne cut herself off, spinning on her heel and marching to the freezer, pulling it open.

Dawn was by the back wall, out of view of the door, sitting on the floor and shivering. Sunny had his arms around her, his jacket covering them both. They looked up when the door opened, expressions panicked. 

"Marianne!" Dawn’s wings were gone, but she still seemed like she could fly, running into her sisters arms. "Are you okay? Are they gone? What’s going  _on_?!” Sunny moved slower, but was still there in seconds when she crooked a finger at him. Marianne shuddered, lowering her voice so only they could hear.

"We need to leave. We need to get out of here, get home, and leave. The three of us. Dad’s gone insane, he wants me to  _marry_  that tall gob and I can’t-” She shuddered again, clutching Dawn close. “If I say no,  _when_  I say no, he’s gonna give you to him. Political alliance. That’s how it’s done. We need to pack up and  _run_ , do you understand me?” 

When she pulled back, the look on their faces was strange. “What?” Dawn pointed over her shoulder.

"Perhaps, princess, instead of flitting off to make escape plans, you should stay and  _listen_  when the adults are talking.” The tall goblin, the Bog King, was standing behind her, leaning on his umbrella. She whirled around, shoving her sister further into the freezer, fists raised. “Oh yes, that’ll work. Just like the umbrella gambit worked.”

"I’m not marrying you! And neither is she!" The goblin squeezed his eyes shut, thumb working circles into his temple. 

” _If_  you’d been listening, you’d have heard the sheer  _number_  of times I declared that I wasn’t interested in marrying either one of you.” He said, tone bored. Marianne relaxed marginally, but her fists were still up. “So now that we’re _actively involved in this huge decision that will affect both of our lives_ , how about coming out of the cold closet and having a proper sit-down with us? Hm?”

Dawn and Sunny were peeking around her, interest written on both their faces. With a great sigh, Marianne put her arms down, stepping aside so they could walk by. Next to Bog, Dawn looked like a child. Marianne felt her resolve harden to steel.

If they couldn’t come to any other solution, Dawn wasn’t going to leave with him. She’d make sure of it.


	4. Chapter 3

There was something to be said about living on top of your business. On one hand, you could never really escape the work mindset, and Marianne often found herself going downstairs in the middle of the night, unsure if she’d locked the front door. But on the other hand, the commute time was nonexistent, and if unexpected guests showed up to talk about the fate of the goblin race, well, it was perfectly simple to invite them upstairs for coffee.

"Sunny, you can go home now." Ronnie said absently as he watched Marianne lead the goblins upstairs, locking the door and flipping off the open sign. "This is a family matter, nothing that concerns you."

"Oh, yes it does!" Dawn replied angrily, holding onto his shoulder to stop the elf from leaving. "Sunny’s been moving from haven to haven with us, uprooting his own life every other decade to help us with our shops. If he’s not part of this discussion, then neither am I."

Ronnie opened his mouth to reply, then heard Marianne call him from upstairs. With a sigh, he shook his head. “Oh, fine. Come on, then.”

* * *

As they rarely had guests over, the Fairwood family had allowed little touches of magic to fuse with everyday objects. The water from the taps had no metallic aftertaste, as it was transported directly from the heart of a spring. Their tables and chairs were made of wood that still lived, so that once they were gone from this haven, they could become trees once more. The air smelled heavy with rain that never fell. All in all, it was a cozy place for a trio of forest folk.

Bog and Griselda sat at the dining table with Marianne. It was then that Bog seriously began to regret the size of his human form. It was only natural for him to want to be tall, as he was the largest of the goblins, but this was ridiculous. He could barely move his legs underneath the table without banging his knees into the underside, and the clay coffee mug he’d been given looked positively minuscule in his large hands. Sitting, he was as tall as the younger princess if she stood on her toes and stretched.

Marianne barely batted an eye when Sunny trailed in after her father and sister, but the goblins seemed startled.

"Okay, I’d heard most light fae looked the same, but I’m pretty sure that’s an elf." Griselda said bluntly, pointing at him. Sunny flinched backwards, but Dawn refused to let him leave the apartment.

"The elves have just as much to lose if your people come up here and go nutso as ours do. Sunny is here as a delegate for them." Dawn lied smoothly, rolling her shoulders. "If you can’t handle it, go back underground."

The goblins exchanged a look, and Marianne openly stared at her sister. She was used to Sunny lying to cover for Dawn’s misadventures, but this turnabout was just…bizarre. Dawn didn’t lie, she had too many tells.

Then again, without her wings, one of the biggest ones was solved.

"Right then." Ronnie coughed, taking his place at the head of the table. Dawn sat next to Marianne, and Sunny sat at the other end. For a moment, no one spoke. They just glanced at each other nervously, as if expecting someone to pull out a weapon. Finally, Marianne’s expression broke into a scowl.

"Oh, this is ridiculous. First thing to the table, no one’s getting married, here. Not us, and not to him. And that’s final." Griselda and Ronnie began to speak in unison.

"Traditionally-"

"-a smarter choice than a lot of the other stuff we came up with-" Marianne held up her hands.

"Alright, let’s start with that. Dad, Lady Griselda, what were some of your other ideas?" Both of their gazes dropped. "Dad?" He scratched the back of his neck.

"Marianne, you need to understand. Back in the old days, with the old ways, forging a peace treaty usually involved some, ah,  _sacrifice_  on the part of the royal families. It was why marriage was preferred. Love potions could make the parties tolerate each other, at least.” Dawn glanced between her father, whose face was the picture of guilt, and the slowly dawning horror on her sister’s face.

"What? What is it?" She asked, genuinely curious, but it wasn’t either of them who answered.

"Kinswap." Bog replied grimly, glaring down at his mother. Griselda’s shoulders hunched inwards, trying to escape his eyes. "And who exactly would have gone, mother? We’re it. Would you have come to live in their home, while one of the faerie princesses was stuck with  _me_?”

Dawn was still confused, so her sister whispered a quick explanation in her ear.

Unlike a royal union, a kinswap wasn’t about presenting a united front. A kinswap involved a member of the royal family becoming a part of the opposite household. Their treatment was dependent entirely on the peace holding between the two lands. If war broke out, it wasn’t unheard of for the swapped ones to be killed so they couldn’t escape and provide inside information. Dawn clapped her hand over her mouth, and Sunny reached under the table to grab her other hand.

” _That_  is off the table, too.” She declared. “What else have you got?”

* * *

The discussion went in circles for hours. At one point, Marianne looked out the window and saw that it had gotten dark. She stretched her arms above her head, rolling her stiff shoulders. As if realizing the time, her father and sister copied her. Without their wings to remind them to move, faeries often found themselves holding their arms and backs in the same position for too long, causing soreness. Needless to say, there were a number of flourishing massage parlors in every haven.

"This is going nowhere, and I’m starving." Marianne yawned, standing up and heading for the kitchen. "It’s almost nine, and I’m not going to use my brain for another  _second_  until I get some food in me. Do you two like pizza?” Bog and Griselda tilted their heads in unison, and she almost giggled. Family bonds run deep, even in gobs.

"Pizza?" Bog asked, pursing his mouth around the word, as if he was trying to taste it that way. For the first time all evening, Marianne smiled.

"Oh man, you’re going to love it. This is my favorite part of you new transformed, getting to see your faces when you eat human food for the first time. Some of it is pretty gross, but other stuff…" She trailed off, grabbing the phone off its hook.

Half an hour later, they were relieving the delivery boy of several pizzas; cheese for herself and her father, vegetarian for Dawn and Sunny, and meat for the goblins. Marianne had busied herself with setting the table, while Dawn had borrowed Bog, to help her get some spices off the high shelf she needed a stool to reach. 

"The red pepper is the one with the red cap, the garlic is that brownish-orange powder." She directed, leaning back against the sink. "So, when you said earlier that you and your mom were it…no siblings?"

"No." He muttered, still looking for the garlic. She tried again.

"What about your father?"

"He died." Bog said curtly, and Dawn pressed herself closer to the counter.

"I’m sorry to hear that." She replied, wringing her hands. Meanwhile, Bog finally located the garlic, grabbing it and turning to her.

"It was a long time ago. Why are you asking all these questions?" Dawn sighed, looking over her shoulder into the living room, where their parents were still deep in conversation at the table. Marianne was nowhere to be seen, probably washing her hands or grabbing a moment of peace in her room. Sunny was at the table too, waiting for her to come back before he opened the pizza box.

"Because we’re probably going to get married, and I don’t want us to be strangers when that happens."


	5. Chapter 4

Human slang had evolved over the years, but Dawn had always assumed that ‘hitting the ceiling’ was just an expression. And then Bog stood at his full height, banging his head rather sharply.

” _Excuse_  me?” He demanded, rubbing the lump on his head tenderly. “No one is getting married.”

"What’s the better choice, then?" She hissed, glancing back to make sure no one had noticed the disturbance. "A kinswap? Not happening. Making you guys an official part of the faerie kingdom is insulting to you, because it strips you of your right to rule, plus it’s not really a guarantee that our people will treat yours nicely. And dad talks a big game, but I  _know_  him. He’d  _die_  before he combined the kingdoms without getting something out of it.” Dawn crossed her arms over her chest, looking back at the table sadly. Bog followed her eyes, noticing her sister had reappeared.

"And why would it be you?" He asked softly. "Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Marianne hates too much, already. There was this guy and…" She trailed off, shrugging. "He used her. Lied to her. And it’s been years, but she’s still so mad at everyone and everything. I mean, you see how she is." Dawn mimed swinging an umbrella, and he actually laughed.

"Ha! Yes, that was very…surprising." It took a few moments, but Bog eventually trained his expression back to its neutral state. "Hate is a powerful weapon, but it destroys from within. And I think, younger one, your sister would sooner die than let you go through with marrying me."

"Dawn." She corrected quickly, grabbing the spices off the counter. "My name is Dawn. And hers is Marianne."

Bog watched her leave the kitchen, saw the way her sister’s entire face lit up as the other girl reappeared. If he hadn’t been sure of it before, now he was positive.

This Dawn girl was the light of her family’s lives, and he’d be damned if he let a horrible old wet blanket like himself snuff her out. Worst came to worst, the Marianne girl would have to be his bride. Her fire had forged the soft mettle of her heart into iron, repelling everyone she didn’t invite close. He liked that. The anger was comforting, familiar.

She wouldn’t be happy, but she would survive.

* * *

"About  _time_!” Marianne groaned, holding her stomach. “They wouldn’t let us eat until you came back. What, were you inventorying the kitchen? I thought we’d agreed no kinswap, you won’t need to know your way around.”

She wasn’t smiling, but her little joke had made her face seem softer, more ethereal. For a moment, she greatly resembled her sister. It was startling, but not unpleasant.

"Your doorways are too small, princess." He deadpanned, pointing to the bump on his head. "And if they had been any harder, I’d have knocked myself unconscious." Marianne clapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her laughter into a series of loud snorts, but she couldn’t hide the mirth in her eyes.

"Oh no," She gasped, hand going to her forehead mockingly. "You discovered plan D!" He raised an eyebrow, and her expression faltered. "For, for doorway. It’s…hm." She raised a clear glass to her lips, muttering into the bubbling brown liquid within it. "I’m not very funny." Dawn and the elf burst out laughing.

"Hey, you tried." Sunny said, offering her a slice of their pizza. Marianne just shook her head, dumping garlic on the slice she’d pulled from the box closest to her.

Food was a strange thing. All goblins loved to eat, of course. It was necessary for survival. But faeries, who were always throwing grand feasts and balls and harvest celebrations back in the old days, treated food like it was something more than what it was. That was the only explanation as to why the general mood had improved so quickly upon the introduction of this…’pizza’.

"You just pick it up with your hands." Marianne was explaining to his mother, who was poking the steaming flat thing with one long fingernail. "Watch the grease, though, it stains your clothes something awful."

The feeling of four sets of eyes on him was uncomfortable, but Bog refused to show throat to a pack of light fae over food. Picking up his slice, he quickly shoved part of it in his mouth and bit down.

It burned him.

Letting out the most dignified yelp he could muster, Bog dropped the pizza back onto his plate, fanning his open mouth. Marianne was positively falling over herself with laughter.

"You, you have to  _blow_  on it, when it’s still steaming.” She giggled, standing to go to the kitchen. “Hold on, I’ll get you some ice.”

Still laughing, she filled a cup with ice from the ice maker, in case of further incident. Griselda still hadn’t touched her pizza, other than to poke it a few times. It made sense, though. Goblins didn’t cook their food, as far as she knew.

When she got back, Griselda was gingerly holding her slice between her thumb and forefinger, blowing on it so hard the pepperoni slices were starting to peel off. Bog was just glaring at his slice, and Marianne felt her irritation towards him cool.

"When we lived in the haven in upstate New York years ago, there was a little human couple that owned a pizza restaurant. Their ovens were huge, bigger than I am, and they made many pizzas at a time. The first time I had a slice, I burned the roof of my mouth so badly, I could only eat pudding for two days."

Ronnie’s head shot up. They hadn’t lived in the New York haven for over fifty years, but it had been one of Marianne’s favorites. There was a lot of open space, and some of the nearby farms had kept horses. It had been the haven they’d lived in before she met Roland, and he knew she considered their time there among some of her happiest memories. It was unlike her to share such a personal story.

Bog glanced around the table. The king and the younger princess seemed surprised, but the elf had a small smile on his face. Marianne had busied herself with eating, not paying attention to anyone else. He suddenly felt self-conscious.

"Thank you." He said quickly, and her head jerked, eyes slowly traveling up to meet his. "I’m sure I won’t make the same mistake twice." She chewed a moment, then swallowed.

"You’re…welcome?" It hadn’t meant to come out as a question, but the fact that it had reflected her confusion.

Aside from when they’d been staunchly arguing  _against_  the marriage idea, Bog hadn’t made any attempt to speak to her. Now he was being sort of… _nice_. Downright cordial, in fact. And hadn’t they been joking together, earlier? Her eyes widened, dropping back to her plate.

If he’d been  _anyone_  else, maybe a friendship could be allowed to form. She’d finally have a confidant, like Dawn had Sunny. But Marianne knew that any kindness, any civility she showed towards the Bog King would be taken as her accepting her fate, as her coming to grips with the idea of being his wife.

And that was unacceptable.

"Is everyone finished?" She asked, standing to collect her father’s empty plate. "We really should get back to figuring this out. I mean, some of us have actual work, tomorrow." As she walked back to the kitchen, Dawn cleared her throat.

"Actually, I was thinking-"

"No." Bog said quickly, interrupting her. "Absolutely not."

Marianne paused in the doorway, looking at them. Had her sister been… _talking_  to the gob, behind her back? Dawn stood, hands on her hips.

"They’re right, okay? It’s the best choice. No one is in any danger of dying, no one loses their ruling rights, no one gets  _hurt_.” She was speaking through a lump in her throat, voice tight. “Your people get to come above ground, ours have no choice but to accept them. It’s the  _only_  solution where everyone won’t be  _miserable_.”

Marianne slowly set the plates she was holding down on the inside counter, inching her way back to the table. Dawn wouldn’t- she  _couldn’t_. She was just a girl. She couldn’t take on a responsibility like this.

"I’ll m-"

"I’ll marry you."

Dawn’s mouth fell open behind her sister’s hand. Marianne had the other hand outstretched, for Bog to grab. “I’ll do it, but on my terms. You never get to keep me away from my family. I still work here, at the flower shop. Having kids isn’t even an option. And we sleep in separate rooms. Deal?” Her hand was trembling, and Dawn touched the arm that was attached to the hand over her mouth.

Bog glanced from his own mother, who was nodding, to the king, who had gone slightly green. The elf’s dark skin had gone pallid, and his grip on Dawn’s wrist was so tight, his fingertips were beginning to redden, knuckles white. Dawn’s face was mostly covered by Marianne’s hand, but what he could see looked distraught. And then he looked at Marianne.

Her determined expression couldn’t mask the fear in her eyes, and it made him wince. Sure, he wasn’t any faerie prince, but was he really so beastly that she’d be  _afraid_  of him? Now, when he’d shown her that he really didn’t mean her any harm?

Apparently, yes.

He sighed, reaching out to take her hand in his. She was still trembling, shivers shaking her arms to her shoulders and down. “I accept your terms, princess, though I do have one of my own.” Her eyes widened, body going rigid. “We’re going to live above ground for one, no, two months while we think up a better solution. This one is just plan M.” The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, before flat-lining again. 

"If no other solution is found after two months, we’ll marry. And that way, if that’s what happens, we," He glanced back to Dawn, snorting. "We won’t be strangers."

Marianne had stopped shivering, and finally let her sister go. But they were still shaking hands.

"That seems acceptable. Wait." Something occurred to her. "Where would you two be living?" Dawn’s shoulders snapped out of their sag.

"Oh! They can stay here!"

Marianne and Bog’s faces fell as one.


	6. Chapter 5

"Why do they have to stay in  _my_  room?”

It was day three of cohabitation, and Marianne was already sick of at least one of her uninvited house guests.

After the proposal for the goblins to live in the Fairwood home for the next two months was accepted by Lady Griselda, Sunny had finally spoken up.

"I’m staying here, too."

Marianne knew, at the back of her mind, that he was doing it because of Dawn. That the inches he’d come to losing her shook him harder than anything else ever had. But she wanted to hear him lie.

"Sunny, you don’t need to-" She began, but was interrupted.

"All respects, Marianne, but you three are the only family I’ve got. If things should go bad, I’m gonna be here to help." It was good avoidance. She shrugged, looking to her father.

From the expression on his face, she could tell that Ronnie was attempting to figure out how to fit the extra bodies into the apartment. Each of his daughters had their own room, as did he, but there wasn’t any spare bedroom, just a pull-out couch. Though, both of the girl’s rooms were large enough to hold a second bed…

"Dawn, you’ll be sleeping in Marianne’s room. Lady Griselda, you and your son will have to share Dawn’s bedroom. Sunny," He opened his mouth, ready to tell him to go home again, but stopped. For the first time in ninety four years, Sunny’s eyes shone with defiance. Ronnie sighed. "You remember how to open the couch, right?"

It had seemed simple, at first. During the day, she, Dawn, and Sunny worked downstairs. Griselda and Ronnie continued to work on a better solution, though Marianne was certain she’d heard the gob woman mention grandchildren at least once. And Bog…Bog.

Bog wasn’t taking well to life as a human.

He was too tall, for one thing. His eternal enemies were doorways and low-hanging lights. Human food didn’t agree with him, though one of the few things he found that his new shape  _could_  keep down were carrots, which he hated. And then there was the fact that he rarely talked, just skulked around the shop, watching her work. 

He was too tall, too skinny, and too quiet, a deadly trio of negative traits that would have had Marianne avoiding him at every turn, if it hadn’t been for one strangely important thing:

The Bog King was actually a very funny man.

True, some of his humor was a bit mean-spirited, but he also did wonderful impressions of troublesome customers that had her in stitches. His stories from the underground kingdom were fascinating, too, and always left her wanting to know more. After a horrifyingly short amount of time, Marianne found herself realizing that she no longer thought of him as ‘the tall gob’ or even as her unwanted fiance. He was just Bog.

And when all of this had been settled away, she was determined that she would keep him in her life.

If she wasn’t sent to jail for murdering her sister, first.

Marianne sighed, massaging her aching skull. Dawn had grown disillusioned with the idea of the goblins staying with them seconds after she realized that she’d be giving up her room in the process.

"They’re in there, probably touching my stuff. At least I know Bog’s not in my bed, he wouldn’t fit! Ugh, which means Griselda’s in it…" The whining had been endless.

” _Enough_.” Marianne growled, pushing her forehead so hard, she heard a joint pop in her finger. “Or we’ll switch rooms again and  _you_  can go bunk with Griselda.”

Oh, that hadn’t been the right thing to say.

Dawn immediately took on an expression of wicked glee, hopping off her camp cot and onto her sister’s bed. “My  _my_ , sis! That’s pretty forward.” Marianne refused to let herself blush.

"What I mean is, you’re both loud and obnoxious, you deserve each other!" She shoved Dawn back to the ground, where she landed on Sunny.

"Just like you and Bog would both be happy in a rainstorm, I bet! Perfect match!" She shot back, before rapid tapping from Sunny caught her attention.

"Please get your elbow out of my stomach." He gasped, and she immediately rolled off him. 

"I’m so sorry!" He waved off her apology, already getting his breath back. "Did I break anything?" Sunny snorted, pulling up his shirt.

"Nah, I’m built tough. There won’t even be a bruise later." Dawn’s face was pink, and Marianne could see her eyes travelling his torso. Her sister’s horse was finally entering the race, it seemed, after years of being trapped in the stable.

She cleared her throat, and he let his shirt fall back into place, the tips of his ears bright red. Marianne pretended not to notice the way Dawn startled out of her bare skin trance, because it would make her head hurt less in the long run.

"If the whining has finished for tonight, we’re here to  _brainstorm_ , people. Get me out of this marriage.” A voice from the doorway made her jump.

"I’ve got an idea." Bog took up all of the space available, but also next to none of it. He had a book under one arm, and a bag of mixed vegetables under the other.

"The door was closed." Marianne pointed out testily, and he shrugged.

"I opened it. May I come in?" Rolling her eyes, she waved him in. Bog was smart enough to shut the door behind himself, but dumb enough to try and sit down on her bed.

"No." She stretched her legs out, blocking the spot he’d tried to sit in. "Floor." With a pointed look, he deliberately moved her legs aside, sitting down anyway.

"Do you want to hear my idea or not? I assure you, it’s a good one."

They stared at each other for a time but eventually, Marianne sighed. “Go on.”

"Temporary cohabitation.Provides a chance for individual goblins and faeries to get to know each other, while also giving my people a place to stay for a few weeks while they get their human lives started. We can serve as a good example of our kind living together peacefully." Marianne snorted, and his face fell. "What?"

"You missed the obvious. I can’t think of a single faerie in this haven that would willingly have a goblin in their home." His mouth quirked upwards, and her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You did."

She wanted to remind him that Dawn had been the one to invite them. Tell him how irritating she found his mother’s loud voice and his near-absolute silence to be. Wanted her face to feel less warm than it did. Marianne wanted a lot of things, but what she said instead was,

"Yeah, we did."


	7. Chapter 6

That night at dinner, Bog presented his cohabitation idea to their parents. It wasn’t received well.

"You  _really_  expect our people to trust the creatures that used to hunt them at night? No offense, King Oberon.” Ronnie’s mouth was drawn tight, in a way that suggested he was seconds away from calling the entire thing off. Days ago, Marianne would have just let him speak his mind, offend the goblins, and let them be on their way. Now, however…

"If their king can sleep soundly through the night without fearing a knife at his throat, what are their excuses?" She added quickly and though he didn’t smile, Bog’s eyes still showed his relief. 

"Once they’re Transformed, you’d barely be able to tell that they’d been goblins at all anyway, right?" Dawn asked. That gave them all pause.

If a human looked at Bog and Griselda, they would have no idea that they were anything than what they appeared to be. It had been Griselda’s croaking voice that had given her away, but Marianne knew what gobs sounded like. Humans didn’t.

This entire thing, the meetings between Griselda and Ronnie, the arranged marriage, it was all because even after all this time, all these centuries of peaceful separation, neither side trusted each other. Humans had nothing to do with it. The revelation caused Marianne’s jaw to drop.

"This is ridiculous." Bog muttered, having seemingly realized the same thing she had. "If we trickle them up in small numbers over the course of a year or two, we can have the whole kingdom above ground in no time. There was no point to this.  _Any_  of this.” He pushed himself away from the table, and left the room. The front door slammed.

The rest of the table looked to Marianne. “What?”

"Go after him?" Griselda prompted, gesturing at the doorway. "We’ve been up here less than a week, he’ll wander somewhere and get lost!"

She left the table, and went outside, mainly so no one would see her laughing. Bog was a grown man, a king, but his mother was acting like he was a confused child. No wonder he was always skulking around the shop during the day, anything to avoid being cooped up in a room with her.

"What’s so funny?"

It took a few minutes for her laughter to die down, but Bog waited patiently. He’d been leaning against the compost box, arms crossed. The feel of the night air and the scent of decaying flowers was calming him down better than any talk could have. Marianne jerked her thumb at the door.

"Your mother, does she always act like-"

"Yes." He insisted solemnly, not letting her finish. For some reason, that didn’t bother her. They were of the same mind on many things, after all.

"But you’re the king!" Marianne exclaimed, plopping down on the bottom step of the stairs. "An adult! What could she have to worry about?" Bog tilted his head back, staring up at the stars.

"Assassination, for one." She froze.

Dawn told her that he had no siblings, and that his father had died. Perhaps, perhaps Griselda’s fears weren’t so silly, after all.

"How did your father die?" She asked quietly, looking down at her hands. The calluses on her fingers were going smooth again, from working the desk rather than the back. It was almost time for her and Dawn to switch jobs.

Bog was quiet for several minutes, and she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her, but then, finally, he answered.

"He was killed in the last great war, before the peace agreement was reached." Marianne froze. Her mother had died in the great war as well, when she and Dawn were children. She could barely remember her face. "I was a young man when I was made king, but I just wanted the fighting to stop. That’s why I sealed the borders, and eventually drafted a peace treaty." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "All I want is for my people to be safe, princess, but I fear yours won’t allow it."

 _All I want is everything I can’t have_.

"I’m sorry my first instinct was to fight you." Marianne said suddenly, and Bog jerked, looking away from the sky. She smiled up at him slyly. "Even though you were fully prepared to fight me back." He snorted, shaking his head.

"The greatest umbrella duel the world has ever seen, forever unfought." He lamented, grin creeping onto his face. She laughed, and watched his entire body relax. "Though I must say, your form is quite good." Her face went pink.

"Even without any wars to fight, I always did like to fence. It’s good exercise." And it was a good way to sneak self-defense lessons past her father. A blush had started to form on his forehead, making its way down to his cheeks.

"I, ah, wasn’t entirely talking about your fighting style, I must confess." Marianne went rigid.

Wait. Were they  _flirting_  now?

She cleared her throat, standing quickly. “I think we’ve gotten enough air for one night, don’t you?” She made to ascend the stairs, but he grabbed her arm.

"Pr- Marianne. Wait." He pointed upwards, eyes almost pleading. "The moon. It’s  _perfect_  tonight.” She looked up. Truthfully, the moon looked like any other full moon she’d ever seen, but then she realized. He’d been underground so long that the moon, stars, fresh air, the sun…it was a luxury. “If you go in, someone else will come out to get me. Please.”  _Please stay_.

She sighed, and started to climb the stairs again. Bog dropped her arm quickly, as if it were made of fire. “Come on. You’re not going to get a good view from the alley, we can sit on the roof.”

Marianne didn’t have to turn around to know that he was smiling.


	8. Chapter 7

They sat on the roof for ages, until it was almost moondown. The humans had spent centuries naming the stars, and discovering more that couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, and she told him about them.

Bog was fascinated with the sky, with being off the ground, but she didn’t learn why until he shyly rolled up one of his long sleeves. The pattern went all the way down to his elbow, and she gasped.

"I didn’t know goblins had wings." Marianne confessed, and he chuckled.

"Most don’t. My father was a higher gob, that’s where I got them from. Not quite as colorful as yours, I’m afraid."

Her wing pattern took up most of her back and shoulders, but didn’t travel very far down her arms, making his all the more impressive. Before his transformation, Bog’s wingspan must have been  _huge_.

By the time they went back inside, dinner had been cleaned up and put away, and most of the lights were out. Sunny had the bed pulled out of the couch, and he and Dawn were laying on it with a bowl of popcorn, watching a movie.

"What’s playing?" Marianne called from the kitchen, careful not to be too loud. It was late, and their father was probably already asleep.

"Hairspray." Dawn called back, and Marianne wrinkled her nose.

"Musical." She explained to Bog, shaking her head. "Hated it in ‘88, hated the Broadway show they dragged me to in ‘03, hated the remake in ‘07. I’m just…not very showtunes." There was booing coming from the living room, and when they stuck their heads out, Dawn and Sunny both had their hands cupped around their mouths, hissing at her.

"Marianne hates fun." Sunny said, bowing his head. Dawn sighed sadly, hiding her face in her arm.

"Wherever did we go wrong? Ow!" She rubbed her forehead, looking for the rubber band her sister had shot at her. "Not funny, Marianne!"

"Was to me!" The older woman said with a laugh, walking out of the kitchen with a box of crackers. Bog trailed after her, unsure of what he should do.

His mother was sleeping, he could hear her snores from down the hall. Was Marianne planning on going to sleep? Should he? For some reason, though he knew he should be exhausted, Bog felt wired. Right as he went to speak, he stumbled into Marianne, who’d stopped walking. “Eh?”

"This is my room." She pointed at her door, which was open enough for him to see her bed. They stood there for a solid minute, just looking at each other, before Bog cleared his throat.

"Yes, so it is. I should-" His head bumped the light fixture as he stood up straight, and it made her giggle. "I should go to bed. It’s late."

"Very late." She agreed, still smiling. "Goodnight, Bog."

His heart began to beat faster when she said his name. He  _liked_  the way she said his name. “Goodnight, Marianne.”

She slipped into her room and shut the door, and he wondered just what the hell he was playing at.

* * *

By the time he woke the next day, Marianne and Dawn were already down in the shop. It was still slow as could be, so while Dawn spruced up a few arrangements, Marianne spread the local paper open on the front counter.

"Apartment hunting?" Sunny asked, watching her circle ads. She shook her head.

"Not for me, I like it here. For them, and the goblins that come up later. Dawn’s gonna need her room back, eventually." A sudden thought occurred to her. "You haven’t been home in a few days, does Pare know you’re here?" Sunny snorted.

"You kidding? He and Lizzy couldn’t wait to get rid of me! I think he wants me to move in with you guys permanently."

"Ooh, yes! Once I get my room back, you can bunk with me!" Dawn’s cheeks went pink as she said that, and Marianne rolled her eyes.

For the last day or so, Dawn had been on a minor journey of self-discovery. Though anyone with eyes could see that she loved her best friend, her feelings for him had never been romantic. Then, that night in Marianne’s room, something changed. Maybe it was a switch flicking on in her brain. Maybe she’d suddenly unlocked a latent appreciation for chest hair. Whatever it was, Dawn was utterly gone, and Sunny was about the only person who hadn’t noticed.

His face flared as well, and he cleared his throat. “Not sure your dad would be too pleased about that, Dawn. I mean, just this morning…”

Just that morning, Ronnie had found the two of them asleep on the pullout, television still on, empty popcorn bowl overturned on the floor. Sunny had been curled around Dawn, an arm around her waist keeping her close, while she rested her head on his other arm.

He’d nearly thrown Sunny out a window.

Dawn pouted, crossing her arms. “Fine, we’ll get our own place, just the three of us. Or maybe, four?” Her smug little grin had Marianne reaching for the rubber band ball. “Hey! I’m just saying, you and Bog seemed to be coming in awful late last night. And I  _know_  the arrangement is called off, but you never know.” She shrugged, then jumped as a deeper voice called out from the stairs,

"Never know what?"

Bog was finally making an appearance, and Marianne found that she actually had to work at not letting how pleased she was to see him show on her face.

"About time you woke up." Is what she said instead, waving her newspaper at him. "We’re burning daylight! Dawn, you’re in charge. Sunny, work the counter. Bog, come with me. I’m finding you and your lot a place to live."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, apparently stunned to silence. In the meantime, Marianne had fetched her car keys, pulled on her jacket, and was waiting impatiently by the front door. “Come on!”

With a shrug, Bog ignored Dawn’s happy waving and followed her.

* * *

Three hours and twelve apartment complexes later, he decided that he’d had enough.

"I would rather sleep on a bench for the rest of my life than go through another  _second_  of this ridiculous insincerity!” He exploded, banging his fist against the roof of her car. In retaliation, she punched him in the side. “Ach! What was that for?!”

"Don’t hit my car." Marianne snarled, expression cross. "I’ve had that car for decades without a ding, you’re not going to break her perfect record." Slowly, Bog pulled his hand away from the car, letting it fall to hang at his side. "Better. Now, what’s wrong?" He sighed.

"Every place we’ve gone has been faerie-owned, and every time you’ve explained our situation, they’ve all but slammed the door in my face. Face it princess, no faerie is going to rent out building space to a pack of goblins."

"I could order them to." Marianne said loftily, shrugging her shoulders. "But yeah, I see your point. I’m thinking it’s time for a snack break, anyway. Wanna get ice cream?" His angry expression melted into a blank stare, and her eyebrows shot up. "Oh my god. It’s happening again. Come on, we’re going to the Stop Mart and you’re going to have an  _experience_.”

Unlike with pizza, ice cream didn’t hurt him.

The King Cone Marianne had bought him, laughing all the while, was too sweet, and made his tongue tingle. There was some kind of unidentified nut on it, and several different kinds of flavors in  the ice cream itself. But for once, his body wasn’t immediately rejecting it as he swallowed, so that was a win by him.

"What kind did you get? Smells like fruit." Marianne was already mostly done with her white ice cream bar, and her lips curved into a smile around it. Pulling it from her mouth, she offered it to him.

"That’s because it  _is_  fruit. Coconut pop, want to try?” Bog’s eyes flicked from the pop to her lips, which still had little flecks of white on them. Mindlessly, her tongue popped out to lick them off, and he swallowed.

"Sure." As his tongue moved up the places her mouth had already been, Marianne felt her face go hot. It was more intimate than an indirect kiss, practically dirty in its unthinking innocence. "It’s good. I like it better than mine. Trade?"

She took the cone from him without a word, felt his eyes on her occasionally as they ate in silence. Once they were done, Bog patted his stomach.

"I seem fine. Cream and cheese are both made from milk, right?" His face scrunched up in pain as a thought occurred to him. "Oh no. It was meat, wasn’t it? My body doesn’t like meat.  _Everything is ruined forever_.” His dramatics were making her laugh again, and even through his supposed anguish, Bog was able to crack a smile.

He liked surface life, more than he’d thought he would. He liked pizza, and ice cream, and looking at the sky from somewhere other than through a grate. He liked this woman, who smiled and laughed easier than most people thought she could. He liked her a lot.

” _Oh, I’m in trouble_.” Bog thought to himself as he climbed back into Marianne’s car, ready to tackle apartment complex number thirteen.


	9. Chapter 8

While Bog and Marianne went off on their apartment-hunting adventure, a very different sort of adventure was going on back at Fairwood Florist.

There’d been maybe ten customers all day, and Dawn was bored. She’d swept the entire shop, practically filled the cooler with all of her arrangements, made flower crowns and chains from the reject pile, and it was still only four. Two hours of  _nothing_  awaited her.

"Sunny, I’m bored." She whined, and he snorted.

"Really? I couldn’t tell from your ‘I’m bored’ stomp dance five minutes ago." Her face went scarlet.

Dawn knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what she felt for Sunny went deeper than any crush she’d ever had before. But it was so hard to act like anything but herself around him, because in the end, he was still  _Sunny_. He was her best friend first, and a potential datemate second. Which meant that she was still prone to busting out embarrassing behavior like baby fits.

Not like he hadn’t seen it all before, though.

"I’m just really, really bored." She groused, laying the top half of her body over the counter and playing with the flower chain she’d made him. Suddenly, he smacked himself in the forehead. "The heck?"

"I made you something!" Sunny said excitedly, running for the stairs. "I made it like a week ago, but stuff came up, and I kinda forgot. Stay there!"

Her interest was certainly piqued. Elven crafts were second only to that of the dwarves when it came to complexity, sturdiness, and beauty. Sunny had made things for her before, mostly when they lived in havens that were located further out in the country. In the busier havens, he had other ways to occupy his time.

She kept the gifts she didn’t, or couldn’t, wear as often in a box in her closet; a suede vest with her wing pattern painted on the back, a blue spotted dress she’d worn until the era changed and it went out of style, a leather wristband with her name etched into it in the script of his people. But around her neck, she always wore the gift she found the most precious: a braided chain made from faerie steel.

She’d worn different charms on it over the years, some from her sister and father, others from suitors, but as the chain never dulled or broke, it was her single most consistent accessory. Dawn was stirred from her reverie by the sound of Sunny’s footsteps on the stairs.

"Okay, close your eyes!" He called, and she did as she was told. She could hear him coming closer, felt her breath hitch as he took hold of her hand. There was something in his hand, and it was pressing into her palm. "Open ‘em."

Dawn opened her eyes, and as he pulled his hand away, her own hand jingled. He’d made her a chime bracelet in light blue thread with silver clam shell chimes, that made a soft metallic sound every time they clacked together. Slipping it onto her wrist, she reached out and picked up a vase. The chimes tinkled merrily, and she giggled.

"Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" She spun around, waving her hand over her head, and the chimes pinged faster. "Sunny, this is the best thing ever! I sound so, so," Words were failing her.

"Magical?" He offered with a grin. Dawn leaned down, bumping her forehead into his.

"Magical." She agreed, then paused. Their faces were so close, if she leaned a bit further, she could-

The phone rang.

Dawn sighed. Of course it did. “Fairwood Florist? Mmhm. Yeah, we have those. Mmhm. We close at six today. No, it wouldn’t be any trouble. Though, if I may suggest, with a combination like that, it might be a good idea to add an accent flower like baby’s breath to balance out the- yes, of course. Clear or colored vase? Mmhm. Your total will be calculated upon completion, thank you sir.” She hung up, letting out a gust of air. Sunny braced himself.

"Who, no, seriously,  _who_  thinks that carnations and freesia go well together without an accent flower?! And he’s getting this for his  _wife_?! It’s a friendship bouquet, Sunny!” Her forehead met the counter, and he ruffled her hair soothingly. After a few minutes, she stood up again. “Better make this guy his divorce arrangement.” 

Sometimes, Sunny wondered why Dawn wasn’t in charge of the shop. She was clearly more passionate about flowers, and customers loved her. But then he’d see her try and sneak things that customers didn’t order, that  _she_  thought would look better into their arrangements, and it became a bit clearer. Dawn was all passion, but it was Marianne who had the business sense. Meanwhile, he was just the delivery and unloading guy. He just lifted the buckets and put them where Dawn told him to.

"But really, this thing is so great. Don’t take me taking it off as a sign I don’t like it, I’m too mad at this guy to be magical and sparkly right now, okay?" Dawn set the chime bracelet safely away from her work bench, where it wouldn’t accidentally get swept into the trash. She’d lost two phones that way already, and wasn’t going to risk something so important. "I didn’t know you were still doing crafty stuff, though?" Sunny shrugged.

"Yeah, I opened an Etsy store and everything. It’s actually a pretty lucrative secondary income, and a good way to keep myself busy when I’m at home alone." Dawn hummed as she worked, but frowned when he said that.

"You know you can come over any time, right? I keep telling dad you should have your own key, but you know how  _he_  is.” Sunny wasn’t looking at her, too focused on rolling a pen around on the countertop.

"I just, I don’t want you to get sick of me, that’s all." He muttered, but loud enough for her to hear. Dawn laughed, and his stomach clenched.

"Don’t be silly, I could never get sick of you! You’re my-" A sudden burst of bravery hit her. "You’re the person I-" She really should have been paying less attention to making a confession of love, and more attention to where her clippers were. The pain hit her immediately, cutting off all words with a screech. The clippers clattered to the ground, and Sunny was instantly at her side.

"Dawn?! Dawn, what happened?" There was blood on the floor, but no sign of anything severed. With a whimper, she pulled her left hand away from her right. The knuckle of her index finger was gushing blood, and Sunny encouraged her to unclench her fist. "Oof, that looks worse than it is. Don’t worry, we just have to clean it up, slap some New Skin on there, you’ll be fine."

Dawn was usually much more careful in the shop. The last time she’d hurt herself had been years ago, when a vase had slipped out of her grasp and shattered, and she’d cut herself picking up the larger pieces. This kind of scatterbrainedness was unlike her. Still, Sunny helped her wash her hand off in the sink and disinfected the cut before applying the liquid bandage. If, maybe, he held her hand the entire time, it wasn’t like she noticed.

Except that she did. She really, really did.

Sunny’s hands were warm and rough-feeling, but incredibly gentle when helping her. She hid her face in his shoulder while he put on the bandage, the scent of him helping her block out the memory of the sight of her own blood. Once her hand was patched, Dawn realized that she hadn’t told him what she’d been trying to say. And that she really wanted him to kiss her.

"I was, before I cut myself, I was saying something." Sunny hummed to let her know he was listening as he checked her hands for more cuts. She didn’t like that. "Sunny. Sunny, look up." He seemed annoyed to have been pulled away from his task, but he was still holding both of her hands. Dawn took a deep breath. "I was saying, I could never get sick of you. You’re the person I, the person I," Her breath hitched, steeling for rejection. "You’re the person I love."

Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, and his reaction was exactly what she feared it would be.

"Wh-what?" He stuttered, and she opened one eye. His face looked pale, like someone had splashed flour on him. She tried again.

"I love you?" It came out as a question, and she could have kicked herself. His expression was no less deer in the headlights, but at least his coloring was coming back.

"Me?" He asked quietly, still holding onto her hands. Dawn laughed, nodding.

"You."

It took his brain a few seconds to process this very important information, but by the time it had, he was already kissing her, head spinning from the intensity of it all. Dawn loved him.  _Dawn_  loved  _him_. Had he said anything back? He needed to say it back.

"I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said it in my head," He gasped, pulling back just enough to talk, their lips still brushing with every word. "But I love you, Dawn. I love you, I love you. I am in love with you."

They were laughing into their kisses, never getting so far apart that their noses stopped bumping, when Dawn noticed the time. Luckily, she’d already finished the arrangement. Unluckily, she’d bled on part of it. With a heavy sigh, she forced herself to pull away from Sunny to wipe off the vase, just in time for the client to walk in. If he noticed the baby’s breath, he didn’t say anything, just paid and left. And then it was closing time, and Bog and Marianne were still nowhere to be seen.

And really, that suited her just fine.

"I don’t really feel like going upstairs just yet." Dawn said casually, flicking off the open sign and locking the door. Her smile was predatory, and Sunny felt a shiver go down his spine. 

"No?" He tried for casual, but it came out a bit too high. And then Dawn was in front of him again, the difference in their heights all too apparent. Though she was shorter than her sister, she was still half a foot taller than he was.

And he absolutely loved it.

"No." She said sweetly, bending down to nuzzle her face into his neck. The hair on his arms stood on end as he wrapped them around her waist. His laugh was breathless.

"Well alright, then. Whatever the lady wants." Dawn’s answering giggle was low, and it didn’t take an expert to figure out what it meant.

_What the lady wants, silly man, is you._


	10. Chapter 9

By the time Marianne and Bog made it back home after their fruitless search, Dawn and Sunny were upstairs, bickering playfully in the kitchen as they put together dinner. There was something different about them, but Marianne couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Bog's a vegetarian now." She declared, revealing his revelation from earlier, and Dawn squealed in delight. She'd been eating mostly vegetarian for years, with fish being her only exception. 

"Oh my  _gosh_  I've gotta make you this veggie lasagna that Marianne and dad won't eat! It's so good, but they're wimps!" As soon as her sister's back was turned, Marianne shook her head rapidly. Dawn liked to  _think_  she could cook, but she always seemed to add too much of any one particular ingredient, overpowering the rest of the dish.

"How do you know when pasta is done, again?" Sunny wondered out loud, mostly as a way to distract Dawn from her fantasies of feeding Bog until he couldn't eat anymore.

As Dawn rushed over to 'help' him, something caught her sister's eye. Dawn was leaning more into Sunny's space than she ever had before, and his hand rested lightly on her lower back, fingers hooking into the loops of her jeans occasionally. Her mouth fell open, and she resolved to talk to Dawn about it later.

Dinner went off well, with Bog grumpily eating his pasta with butter and garlic, instead of the meat sauce Sunny had made. His mother, he noticed, was perfectly fine with a meat-heavy diet. As the night went on, he and Marianne kept locking eyes. 

She'd confessed that she hadn't exactly mentioned her apartment plan to anyone other than her sister before that morning, because she wanted to see the kinds of accommodations they would be able to find. When the answer had turned out to be 'absolutely nothing', they began to work on a second plan.

"Dad, how much pull do you have with the city commission?" Marianne asked as she gathered the plates off the table. Ronnie looked up, surprised.

"Quite a bit; nine of the twelve council seats are filled by faeries, and a tenth member is an elf. Why?" She glanced at Bog, then took a steadying breath.

"How hard would it be to acquire a plot of land and build an apartment building on it? Or maybe take over an abandoned building and restore it?" For a few minutes, he didn't speak, going over names and figures in his head.

"Shouldn't be too hard, though a restoration job would be cheaper in the long run. You would need to appeal to the ten ahead of time, so they could gloss details about why exactly you want the building...though I assume it has something to do with the goblins coming to live here?" Marianne opened her mouth, but found herself interrupted by Griselda.

"Wait, you figured out another idea? The two of you? Tell me everything."

And so for the next hour, Marianne and Bog launched into their complete plan. No detail was too small to be left out, and anything that Bog forgot to mention, Marianne was there to remind them. By the end, both of their parents were nodding, as if realizing that this idea had the capacity to actually work.

"And the best part is, no arranged marriage!" Marianne finished, spreading her arms wide. As she said it, though, she felt her shoulders drop slightly. The thought of their political union hadn't seemed so bad that afternoon, especially with the way the human realtors kept assuming that they were a couple looking for their perfect first apartment. Next to her, Bog nodded.

"Aye, no arranged marriage." He echoed, sounding almost wistful. His mother caught the change, but Ronnie was happily oblivious.

"Wonderful! I'll make some calls in the morning, get everything set up." With that, he yawned, standing and rolling his shoulders. "Now, I think, it's time for bed."

Dawn and Sunny had wandered away from the table after they'd gotten the gist of the plan, and were watching some music reality show. The couch bed hadn't been pulled out this time, and the two of them were sitting together, Sunny's head resting in her lap. Dawn was twirling his individual locks around her fingers, scratching his scalp with her nails, and Sunny was practically asleep where he lay. Everything about this scene was serene and intimate, and Marianne suddenly felt like she was intruding on something private.

"Hey." She nudged Dawn's ear with her finger, and the younger girl jumped. "It's almost midnight, we need to go to bed."

Dawn sighed, reluctantly shaking Sunny awake. She helped him pull out the bed and, making sure that their father was safely behind closed doors, kissed him quite firmly on the mouth as a goodnight.

Marianne was still up when Dawn entered their room, and she quirked a brow. "Busy afternoon, hm?" The blonde blushed, pulling off her jeans and slipping into her sleep shorts.

"How could you tell?" Marianne laughed, the urge to stand and ruffle her sister's hair almost overwhelming.

"You've got such a love-glow about you, if I placed a plant between you two, it would bloom." She teased, and Dawn blushed harder, burying her face in her hands.

"We're that obvious?" She moaned, peeking through her fingers. Even after all this time, the human world had not worn her down. Dawn was still so young, so sweet. Sunny had best behave himself, or else it wouldn't be an umbrella she'd be chasing him with. Marianne hummed, smiling to herself.

"You're cute together, but then again, you've always been. Now it's just a bit more apparent that you're a couple, not just very close friends." That made Dawn smile, and her expression was dreamy as she fell back onto her cot.

"The urge to kiss and tell is killing me." She giggled, rolling onto her side. Shaking her head, Marianne shut off her lamp. "Oh, come on! At least let me-"

" _Goodnight_ , Dawn." Marianne said loudly, settling down. She got all of a moment's peace before a soft voice whispered in her ear,

"He's a really good kisser."

"Aargh!" She shouted, hurling off her blankets to chase Dawn around the room, laughing all the way.

* * *

 

In the end, it was a full year before the first batch of Transformed goblins broke surface.

It took a month of arguments, counter-arguments, plans, and straight-up bribery to secure a building from the council, after which Bog decided that it might be time for he and his mother to find their own place to live.

"We've intruded long enough, I think, and I'm sure Dawn is eager to get back to her own room." 

So they found an apartment in a human-owned building, and that was that. Dawn got her room back, Sunny went home to the place he shared with Pare and his wife, and the sisters tried to get used to a suddenly empty-feeling house. Sort of.

"I think when the building's done, I'm gonna see if Bog will rent me a place." Sunny declared at work one day, between deliveries. Marianne quirked a brow. Dawn was out getting them lunch, so she either knew about this idea already, or he intended it to be a surprise.

"Oh? What brought that on?" She asked casually, tying a decorative ribbon around the vase holding her finished arrangement. 

"Pare and Lizzy are talking about having a baby, and it'd be unfair of me to keep a room they'd need, or suggest we move to a bigger place to accommodate it." He shrugged, twisting his fingers nervously. "...and also, I was thinking of asking Dawn to move in with me." Marianne snorted. Bingo.

Her sister and her elfish beau were surprisingly adept when it came to sneaking around. Ronnie liked Sunny well enough, but the old man was surprisingly conservative when it came to matters of the heart. He'd made it very clear time and time again that his daughters' ideal matches in his eyes were faerie men of high birth that would continue the bloodline easily. It was why the arranged marriage had come as such a shock to her.

"She'll do it. In a heartbeat, even. All you have to do is ask, then brace for impact as dad drops you off the roof." Marianne knew her words were mean the second they left her mouth, as they immediately caused Sunny's face to fall. 

Nearly a century out of the old ways, and Ronnie was still his king. If he ordered Sunny to stay away from Dawn, the poor elf would be compelled to obey. Luckily, he was still in the dark when it came to the true nature of his and Dawn's relationship, and Sunny intended to keep it that way as long as possible.

"Who's dropping who off the roof?" Dawn pushed her sunglasses up and into her hair, brandishing her bag of subs like a weapon. Marianne laughed, crossing her hands over her heart.

"Hail to the warrior princess of Subway! Long may she deliciously reign!" The blonde screwed up her face, trying to look intimidating.

"I'll have you know these are from a  _local_  place, Marianne." She set the bag on the counter, and Marianne all but pounced on it. "Now, who's dropping what off the where?" Sunny cleared his throat, bypassing his lunch to take Dawn's hand. Her cheeks flared with color, a bright smile gracing her lips. Even months later, this was enough to set her heart pounding.

"I'd wanted to wait until later, but seeing as the suspense might  _literally_  kill you," Dawn laughed out loud. She tended to get clumsier when she was distracted, and he wasn't going to risk it. "When Bog's done with his building, I'm gonna see if I can rent a place in it. And I was sort of hoping you'd want to come with me."

Dawn's shriek echoed around the shop, and Marianne turned away as her sister all but tackled the shorter man.

"We're still at work." She reminded them, focusing intently on her meatball sub. "Also, I talked to Bog yesterday. He says that they're still months away from the building being livable." The thought of him brought a sad smile to her face.

Since he and Griselda had moved out, she barely saw him at all. Sure, he was incredibly busy with the restoration, and keeping up a dialogue with his kingdom, and negotiating a mass Transformation with one of the local sorceresses, but still. They'd been getting very close before he left, and she missed him.

Luckily, she managed to wipe away that look before Dawn came up for air. Her sister had teased her enough about their growing fondness for each other, and there really wasn't any need for her to revisit that train of thought. As it was, the two of them didn't look disappointed.

"So we'll wait." Dawn said, her forehead touching Sunny's. They looked so happy together, it made her heart ache. And what a surprising development.

After Roland's betrayal, Marianne had sworn off men, women, and everyone else the world could throw at her. The only love she needed came from her family, romance was completely useless. But now, she found herself pining. She  _wanted_  to be wanted, would love to be loved. The memory of the last time she'd been kissed was faded and sour, and she ached to replace it with better thoughts. Better kisses.

But it seemed like the one she was pining for had no interest in her after all and really, that was alright too. Better to keep things platonic, than risk getting her heart broken again, right?

* * *

 

And then, it was finally moving day.

It had taken a solid ten months of work, more gold than he cared to calculate, and far,  _far_  too many trips to the home of this haven's chief sorceress, but at last, everything was ready.

There were about fifty goblins left in his kingdom, as the rest had chosen to leave with the Unseelie Court ages ago, which made life infinitely easier, in the long run. Before they'd gone underground, his kingdom had numbered in the thousands, but only the truly loyal chose not to ascend. He was grateful to them, but it made it very difficult to choose his initial five. 

It had been Marianne's idea to hold a lottery.

To stagger their arrival, five goblins would be Transformed every other month, until they all made it to the surface. The humans wouldn't notice fifty people moving in over two years, the same way they would notice fifty people showing up all at once. Bog hadn't had any control over the lottery winners, but he was pleased with them nonetheless.

"Brutus!" He greeted a large, dark-skinned man, almost as wide as Bog was tall. Brutus' powerful arms wrapped around the taller man in a gleeful hug, picking him up off the ground.

"Highness!" He shouted back, then winced at the sound of his own voice. Human speech was louder when it wasn't coming from a reptile's mouth. "I was so excited, I couldn't sleep! For three days! I'm so tired!" His stomach growled. "And hungry!" Bog laughed, extracting himself from the embrace, turning to a much smaller pair.

"Stuff, Thang!" Of all the members of his court, these two were the closest thing he had to true friends. Thang was too excited to talk, so Stuff did all his talking for him.

"After the lottery, the ones that weren't happy for us assumed we cheated to get spots together, sire." She said, standing straight, arms crossed behind her back. "Also, if I may say, the look on that Plum's face when they realized I was female was the funniest thing in the world." Her round face broke into a wide smile, and Thang finally seemed to get over his speechlessness. 

"About housing, we can share, right?" Bog's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't been certain that their relationship had advanced that far just yet.

"I don't see why not." He said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. The two gobs began to bicker, about how he hadn't asked  _her_  if she wanted to live with him, not like they'd ever lived far from one another anyway, etc. The other two lottery winners took that opportunity to approach him.

"Sire." A short, squat man with a beaklike nose said, ducking his head respectfully. With that voice, and that face, it could only be Fang. The other goblin was a tall woman, thin as a reed with long, dark hair. He couldn't place her face at all, so he waited for her to speak.

"Sire." She said, and her scratchy voice curdled his good mood like salt in milk.

"Fang and Gleep." He said, though her name was spoken through clenched teeth. Fang began to talk to him immediately about what the kingdom had been doing in his absence, but Gleep hung back, silent.

For many years, even after they went underground, his mother had been attempting to get him married. Gleep had been her final attempt, before they Transformed and set off to bring their people into the light. She was a pleasant enough woman, and lovely, but she had a quiet, cruel way about her that shone through at the most inopportune times. His neck would never be safe with her at his side, and he'd told her as much. He suspected that she still begrudged him for it.

A hand touched his elbow, and Bog nearly jumped out of his skin.

"The van's ready, when you want to go." Marianne said quietly, and Bog smiled down at her, entirely grateful for her presence. He had learned to drive over the last few months, and when she'd offered use of the delivery van to transport his people to their new home, he'd accepted.

It had also been Marianne's idea for her family to greet the newly-arrived goblins, to let they know that they were completely welcomed by a king of the light court. And while he looked uncomfortable, Ronnie was still  _there_.

"Alright, everyone. Take a few more minutes to get acquainted with all the fresh air, then into the van." Five sets of confused eyes met his, and Bog sighed. "The big white thing over there, with the flowers painted on it." There was a collective 'ohh' of understanding, and he almost laughed. Before he let them out into the world, his people were going to have to take a crash course in human things. Not everyone picked things up as easily as he and his mother had.

When the Transformed goblins were finally loaded up in the back, Bog turned to Marianne, placing his large hands on her shoulders. "Thank you." She tilted her head, and for a moment, he could almost see her wings twitching in the moonlight.

"For what?" She'd barely been around the last few months, both of them busy with various responsibilities, but whenever they got together, it was like no time had passed at all. He snorted, shaking his head.

"For everything." He said sincerely, and patches of her face went pink. "I wouldn't have been able to do this,  _any_  of this, without your help." His hands were still on her shoulders, so he gave them a little squeeze. "Feel free to come by whenever you like, my door is always open."

He'd surprised himself by saying that. Did he mean the door to the building? To his home? With a small jolt of alarm, he realized that the answer to both was a resounding  _yes_.

"Well, I might be around a bit more from now on, Dawn and Sunny were going to talk to you about renting an apartment." His eyebrows shot to his hairline. Was  _everyone_  moving in with their significant other today? Marianne laughed, misinterpreting his expression.

"If you can believe it, dad  _still_  hasn't figured out that they're together. I mean, what's it gonna take?" He laughed with her, reluctantly pulling away before hopping into the driver's seat. Marianne put her hand on the wheel, leaning into his space. His heart sped up, practically slamming against his ribcage. "Drive safe, okay? And call me when you want me. To pick up the van, I mean."

Her face was bright red now, and she was refusing to look at him. He snorted again, poking her in the side. "You'll hear from me, I can't have this hideous thing sitting outside my building." Marianne's laugh sounded relieved and she stepped back, allowing him to shut the door and start the van. They waved to each other as he drove away, and Bog didn't even realize he was smiling until he heard a cough from the back and had to look in the mirror. "Yes?"

"What was that?" Stuff was trying to sound flat and uninterested, but her smile was giving her away. Bog coughed, smile fading.

"Princess Marianne has been very helpful in getting the lot of you up here, and I'm very grateful to her." He said, staring straight ahead. Next to him, his mother let out a disbelieving cackle.

"He's in love with her." She declared loudly, and he nearly swerved into the other lane.

"Mother!" He yelped, then checked the back to make sure everyone was alright. Thang had fallen over into Brutus' lap, but aside from that, they all seemed fine. Griselda just snorted, crossing her arms.

"What? You think just because your father's been gone for centuries, I don't remember what love looks like? I know it when I see it and honey, you've got it!" Brutus' deep voice rumbled out of the back, though he was trying his best not to shout this time.

"She didn't want you to leave." He said thoughtfully, and on his other side, Fang nodded excitedly.

"She kept stalling you, sire. At first I thought it might be for a faerie trick, but something about her face made me change my mind." He shrugged. "Seems like love to me."

"Best be careful though, highness." Gleep said softly, staring at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "Fae like her are good at hiding their true selves. And in these bodies, all it would take is a knife in the dark."

"Oh, stick a sock in it, Gleep." Griselda said with a wave of her hand. "Bog, you're going to give me some excuse about responsibilities and being busy, but you're going to have a lot of time on your hands in a year or two, once everyone is up here, starting their own lives. I expect you to have at least  _told_  her how you feel by then."

That was...shocking, to say the least. With every woman she'd presented to him, his mother had brought up love and marriage immediately, without even giving him a chance to get to know them. But with Marianne, who'd been foisted upon him at first, who he got to know and grew fond of on his own, she was willing to play the long game. Surprisingly, it made him feel better.

"Yes." He said simply, and Griselda tried not to fall back in shock. Her son  _never_  agreed with her over matters like this! "I'll be busy now, but soon. In the meantime, we'll just have more opportunities to get to know each other."

Bog knew that he loved Marianne's fiery spirit and her sharp mind, but he was woefully lacking when it came to actually knowing things about her. What was her favorite plant? Where had she lived before this haven? Why did she sometimes have that sad, faraway look in her eye? He wanted to ask her all of that, and more.

Two years would be enough time, he thought. Two years wasn't much time at all, when compared to the eternity they'd spend together after. Bog smiled to himself again, the building coming into sight.

He'd waited long enough to find a love that was true, two years would be nothing.


	11. Chapter 10

As it turned out, he barely had to wait any time at all to see her again.

Two weeks later, after the goblins had picked out the apartments they liked and gotten to know the town a bit, it was time for Sunny and Dawn to move in. Once they were settled, he’d start opening up spots for humans and other light fae, really integrating his building. Not that the humans would ever know, of course.

Bog had taken to staring out of the window of his ground-floor office when he was bored. The view wasn’t exactly beautiful, just a small grove of trees sitting on the other side of the road, but it was better than nothing. Suddenly, he heard the telltale squeal of tires, and a grin spread over his face.

A mid-sized moving van backed up to the spot nearest the entrance, and out popped Dawn, Marianne, and Sunny, who was sporting a painful looking black eye. The sisters were bickering, and as Marianne grabbed the keys to the van out of Dawn’s hands, he stood, striding out of his office to the front door.

“Glad to see you made it in one piece.” A strange thing happened. At the sound of his voice, Marianne’s entire body seemed to perk up. As it was, Bog was barely hiding his own smile. He’d really  _missed_  the sight of her. “Well, most of you.” His head cocked to the side, and Sunny looked away from him, snorting.

Marianne turned around, and Bog’s breath caught. Her face was clean of its usual makeup, hair pulled back in tiny bunches. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt and pajama pants, dressed in clear anticipation of the kind of sweating it would take to get all of her sister’s stuff upstairs. And then she grinned at him, and he was able to breathe again.

“Trust me, it wasn’t Dawn’s driving that did that. Actually, I kind of need to speak to you.” Moving away from the van, she pitched her voice low. “Gonna need to add a third name to that lease.”

In hindsight, it was almost a funny story. Sunny had come over to help Dawn decide what she was going to bring with her, and what she was going to get rid of. She’d already helped him pack up his room days before, but had been procrastinating doing her own. Something about pulling out the moving boxes just seemed so... _definite_.

They’d gotten a fair amount of work done, sorting through her clothes and books in the span of a few hours, but decided to take a short break before tackling the various knick-knacks she’d been dragging around for decades. With Ronnie out running errands and Marianne manning the shop, they were alone in the apartment.

“Long story short, dad wasn’t exactly happy with the way he learned that they’d been dating for a year.”

Ronnie had returned from his errands to hear laughter from his youngest’s room. He’d never been good about knocking.

Bog was physically aching from holding in his laughter at this point. “Oh no, don’t tell me.” He said, but didn’t mean it in the slightest. If Marianne didn't finish her story, he’d explode.

Ronnie’d opened the door and at first, could have dismissed the whole thing as a tickle fight. Except that Sunny’s lips were on Dawn’s neck, and his hand was up her shirt, and the way he was leaning over her suggested that he’d been in that position before. The older man did the only thing he thought to be reasonable, at the time, which was to yank the elf off his daughter and punch him in the face. But he hadn’t ordered Sunny to stay away from Dawn, a command the young man would have been honor-bound to follow, and that was a start.

“So...since they’d already signed the lease for a two-bedroom and everything, dad sort of decided for them that I’d be moving in, too.” Marianne didn’t sound the slightest bit upset. “Of course, if he really thinks I’ll be bunking with Dawn again, he’s got another thing coming.”

Bog snorted, glancing over her shoulder to look at the rest of his new tenants. Dawn was also dressed to move things around, wearing what he recognized as a pair of her sleep shorts and a tank top. Sunny had foregone his usual overshirt, but otherwise looked no different, aside from the obvious. Though, his entire job at the shop was moving things around, so that was understandable. They were opening the back of the van, which was positively  _packed_  with boxes, a couch he’d never seen before, two large mattresses, and other bits of furniture.

“You, ah, have a lot of stuff.” He said after a moment, and Marianne looked at the open van, groaning.

“Yeah, I know. This is gonna take all day.” He knew she wasn’t fishing for help, but he extended the offer anyway.

“I could lend a hand with the heavier things, if you find your wee arms needing a break.” And yes, there was a bit of teasing in there, but that was just what they did. His words made Marianne smile, and sock him in the arm.

“How about you start with the boxes, so we’re all the same level of exhausted when we try and muscle that couch up, huh?” They playfully shoved each other all the way to the van, Bog’s longer reach being the only advantage he had when grabbing for the first box.

Dawn wasn’t quite sure how her sister had managed to talk their landlord into helping them unpack the van, but she wasn’t complaining. With Bog there, moving everything in took about a third of the time, even  _with_  all the flirting he and Marianne kept stopping to do. By nightfall, they had a mostly set up home, and she was the only one with even the barest spark of energy left.

Sunny was laying face down on the floor near the couch. The reason he couldn’t actually lay  _on_  the couch was because Bog had claimed it. All of it. Marianne had laid down on the back of it defiantly, arms and legs spilling off occasionally. Dawn sighed, holding up her phone.

“All those in favor of pizza, say aye.” There was a round of muffled ayes, and she shook her head. “The ayes have it. Two cheese, one veggie?” Sure, it would be a little overkill, but they needed morning after leftovers. There weren’t any objections, so Dawn stepped out of the room to make the call.

With a small groan, Marianne let her arm flop off its perch on the back of the couch, her hand landing on his chest. Bog opened an eye. “Trouble, princess?”

“My entire body hurts.” She whined, leg slipping down as well. “I’m pretty sure someone replaced my limbs with limp noodles.” He shut his eye again with a low chuckle, then reached up and yanked on her arm. Marianne fell onto him, yelping softly. She tensed for a moment, then relaxed. 

Bog was warm. A little too skinny to be fully comfortable to lay on top of, but warm. Marianne rested her head against his chest, the steady thrum of his heartbeat lulling her off to sleep.

In the end, it was Dawn who ate an entire pizza by herself, then half carried, half dragged her unconscious, surprisingly heavy boyfriend to their bedroom.

At the moment, their bed was just a mattress on the floor, but she’d put a fitted sheet on it, and the box with her pillows and blankets in it was easy enough to find. Sunny woke up long enough to strip himself down to his boxers and give her a kiss goodnight. Dawn laid awake a bit longer, head on the pillow next to his, her hand on his stomach, feeling it rise and fall.

It was still hard to believe that they were actually here, actually doing this. That this would be the first time they could share a bed and  _not_  have to lie about it the next day. The thought made her smile, curling tighter around him. Sunny wasn’t the man her father would have picked for her, but he made her happy, and he loved her with all his heart.

When Dawn finally drifted off to sleep, she was warm, and content, and pleased with herself.

The next morning, Marianne was abruptly woken up by a loud yelp and a coughing fit.

“Knee! Knee!” Bog gasped, and it took a few seconds of absolute panic before she realized what was going on.

At some point in the night she’d shifted positions and ash she continued to move around in her sleep, her knee had eventually collided with a rather sensitive place. She winced, jumping off of him, and Bog doubled over.

Once he’d gotten his breath back, the tall gob looked around the apartment in confusion. “Did I... _sleep_  here?” Marianne had wandered into the kitchen, hoping that Dawn and Sunny had left them some of the pizza from last night, and was surprised to find two untouched pizzas in the fridge. The box of plates was cut open on the table, so she pulled two out, wiping them off before loading them up with cold slices of cheese pizza, grabbing a couple of water bottles off the counter.

Bog took the plate she offered him gratefully, scooting over so that she’d have room to sit next to him on the couch, rather than sitting on the floor. Eventually the bedroom door opened and Sunny stumbled past them into the kitchen. Marianne tried not to snicker; he was still half asleep, and had obviously just reached into an open box to throw something on, which explained why he was wearing Dawn’s ‘You go Glenn Coco’ tank top.

“Sunny, you okay?” She called, and a few moments later, he walked out again, carrying a water bottle.

“I didn’t drink enough yesterday, and now my body hurts.” He stretched his arms over his head, and Marianne heard the cracks and pops from where she sat. “I’m gonna take a shower, okay? Best way to fight dehydration.”

They went back to their food, and soon heard the shower start up. It was still going as they went to put their plates in the sink, and Marianne began to unpack the kitchen boxes. No sense waiting to do it, they’d obviously need this stuff sooner than other stuff. She and Bog had been in the middle of some very important, completely irrelevant local gossip when Dawn wandered in. She seemed startled to see Bog.

“Wait, did you... _sleep_  here?” He shrugged, continuing to wipe out their cups.

“Seems like it. Comfortable couch you’ve got there.” She laughed, and then her face went curiously blank.

“So then...that’s  _Sunny_  in the shower?” Dawn asked, entirely too innocently. Marianne nodded, most of her attention locked on figuring out how to arrange two household’s worth of dishes.

“Yeah, he said something about being dehydrated. Someone should probably bring him a towel, though, we didn’t even put a bath mat in there yesterd-” Her voice died in her throat, suddenly realizing that Dawn wasn’t there anymore when a loud screech of surprise sounded in the other room, followed by the sound of the shower’s sliding door banging shut. She went slightly green. “ _We don’t have a working coffee machine yet but I bet you do come on let’s go to your place_.”

Bog would have laughed, but he understood. Though he had no siblings of his own, he’d begun to see Dawn as a younger sister, and it was definitely uncomfortable to think of what she and her beau might be getting up to in the bathroom. He could scarcely imagine how Marianne felt.

Though he hadn’t planned it that way, really, they’d chosen the apartment themselves, the apartment Bog shared with his mother was directly above Marianne, Dawn, and Sunny’s. As the coffee brewed, Marianne laughed to herself.

“So, if I want to talk to you, should I just knock on the ceiling a couple of times?” Bog grinned, pulling a couple of cups down.

“We  _do_  have a phone here, you know.” He teased, and she stuck out her tongue.

“My music references are wasted on the likes of you.” She sighed, covering her eyes with the back of her hand dramatically, and he laughed out loud.

“What? What’s with the laughing so early on a Sunday- Marianne!” Griselda was in her pajamas and robe, the air conditioning set too high for her again, and Bog quietly thanked the stars above for that. “I saw you three moving in yesterday, but figured if I came down, you’d rope me into carrying boxes, too.” Marianne snorted, then covered her mouth with her hands. “No no, you go ahead and laugh. I’m funny!”

Marianne sincerely liked Griselda. The older woman was a bit overbearing, and her voice could grate at times, but she truly loved her son, and only ever tried to do what was best for him. Bog pulled down a third cup, and once the coffee was ready, she joined them.

They talked local politics for a bit, until the subject switched to upcoming movies they were interested in, and then Marianne’s cell began to ring.

“Where  _are_  you?” Dawn’s tiny voice demanded, loud enough to be heard across the table.

“Bog has ever so kindly provided me with a nice big cup of don’t-kill-Dawn juice.” Marianne replied calmly, and Griselda winced as Bog whispered a quick explanation of why they’d vanished so fast. “I’d offer to bring you two some, but you seem awake enough.”

Dawn’s voice got softer, too low for them to make out, but based on how red Marianne’s face was getting, whatever she was saying was either incredibly embarrassing, or entirely inappropriate. After a few minutes, Marianne ended the call, standing.

“I've gotta go, but thanks for the coffee.” She flushed. “And, y’know, the backbreaking labor. If you ever need me to return the favor...” Bog tried for a grin, but his smile came out more sincere than anything.

“I’ll stomp on the floor a couple of times.” He promised, and she laughed again, squeezing his shoulder as she passed. Once the door closed, Griselda whirled on him.

“Well?!” She demanded, and he held up his hands. “Don’t give me that, you were gone all night. Did you tell her?” He sighed.

“We fell asleep on her couch.” Bog told her, not going into further details because really, there were none to give. “Between the boxes and the unconsciousness, there wasn’t really an appropriate time to tell her that I am...infatuated with her.” Griselda snorted, slapping him on the arm.

“In time, then. She’s only just downstairs, now, after all. So go take a shower already, you smell.” Hiding her disappointment behind affectionate insults, and he’d  _actually_  had to wonder where he’d gotten that particular tic from.

“We didn’t do anything.” Dawn kept insisting as she helped Marianne bang her bed frame together. “It was just a shower!”

Marianne winced, not actually wanting to think about it. “Dawn, it’s okay.”

“No,  _really_.” She said earnestly. “Just a shower. We don’t do, y’know. Other stuff.” Her face went pink as she squeaked out “Yet.” and Marianne contemplated the hammer in her hands. “Marianne-”

“ _Dawn_.” She replied in exasperation. “Look, I’m not trying to placate you here. I’m not dad. I don’t  _care_  what’s going on with you two, so long as you’re being careful and I don’t actually have to hear about it.” She thought a moment. “And happy. So long as I’m not partial to any details, and you’re happy, I don’t care what you do.”

She was going to say more, but then her sister tackled her in a hug. It was actually kind of painful, and her respect for Sunny grew a bit. He had to put up with that  _way_  more than she did.

“Thank you.” Dawn said quietly, right into her ear. “For respecting us like that. I promise to respect you and Bog the same way.” Marianne froze, pulling back with a jerk.

“ _What_  are you talking about?” She asked, eyes narrowed. Dawn giggled, tapping her head.

“Oh, c’mon! We don’t live with dad anymore, you can tell me everything now! How long have you two been together? At least a year, right?” Marianne’s expression didn’t change. Dawn stopped smiling. “A few months? Weeks? Don’t tell me you only hooked up last night!”

“We’re not together.” She said sharply, and Dawn flinched. “We’ve never been...what even gave you that idea?” The younger girl rolled her eyes, starting to tick things off on her fingers.

“Uhh, you’re always happy to see each other, you flirt like  _crazy_ , you have all these things in common, last night you used him as a mattress...it just seemed a little obvious, is all I’m saying.” Her face fell completely, no trace of a smile anywhere. “Are you serious? You’ve never been together at all?” Marianne nodded, and Dawn practically exploded. “That’s  _ridiculous_! Sunny, come here quick!”

There was a crash as Sunny dropped whatever he’d been holding in the living room, and Marianne winced, praying it was a box of books and nothing immediately breakable. “Yeah?” Dawn pointed at Marianne.

“She’s with Bog, right?” She asked him, and he nodded, confused.

“Well, yeah? I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Why?” Dawn leaned forward, pitching her voice to a whisper.

“She says they’re not, and never have been together.” His mouth fell open. “I know! Right? It sounds like a lie, but she’s telling the truth!” Sunny sat down on the floor with them.

“But...he’s in love with you. I know that look. I’ve  _got_  that look, all the time.” He and Dawn smiled at each other, and even though she was happy for them, the sweetness still made Marianne’s skin crawl. “And you look at him the same way!”

“I do not!” She said quickly. Too quickly. Sunny and Dawn both crossed their arms, glaring at her. Suddenly, Dawn’s face softened.

“Oh, Marianne.” She sighed, putting her arm around her sister. “You’re scared, aren’t you? Because of what happened last time?” She was, of course, talking about the Roland incident. It had been decades, but that betrayal still stung. Marianne shrugged Dawn off, standing and beginning to pace.

“I’m not  _scared_  I just. There’s nothing there, Dawn! There was never anything there. You’re just imagining it.” But her face said something different, so the younger girl decided to drop it.

“Marianne, stop. Don’t wear a hole in your carpet before you’ve even got your clothes put away.” Marianne’s body went from stiff and uncomfortable to relaxed in an instant.

“Okay.” She said with a sigh, picking up her tools again. The bed practically looked like a bed, all it needed was a few more pieces. “Okay. I think I can take it from here, Dawn. You go unpack the living room with Sunny.” They’d moved out here to be together, the least she could do was let them.

Before Dawn left the room, she squeezed her sister’s shoulder. Marianne’s mind flashed back to that morning, when she’d done the same thing to Bog. Once her door was closed, Marianne rested her head against the leg of her bed, the coolness of the wood calming her.

“What am I doing?” She said aloud, as if to ask the universe.

As usual, the universe had no answer.

* * *

 

It didn’t surprise her that Bog made a good neighbor. He’d been a good housemate, after all. What  _did_  surprise her was how nice the other five goblins were.

Brutus, who’d taken on the name Bruno Strong in his human papers, was a mountain of a man, and also the sweetest of the bunch. The first time Dawn had come home from the store with two trips of groceries, he’d helped her carry them up in one go, and she’d ended up inviting him for dinner.

Stuff and Thang, or as they’d been trying to get used to being called, Steph and Thane, were another odd couple. They too had been friends for years before becoming something more, and while Thane was a bit forgetful when it came to human things, he never forgot any of Steph’s explanations. Steph herself was very smart, and people took to her easily. Of all the goblins, she’d been the first to find a job, as a hostess at a local steakhouse.

Back in the old days, Fang had been a lookout, due to his small size and fast legs. He had a deep distrust for light fae, but seemed to accept that a century had passed since his services had been needed, as he was at their door less than a week after they moved in, to ask for a quick explanation regarding the buttons on his television remote.

Lastly, there was Gleep.

Gleep made for a lovely human woman, and had taken on the name Giselle Leeds when they were mocking up official documentation for them all. She wasn’t well-liked among this particular group of goblins, and tended to keep to herself, spending her days getting to know the haven better. Dawn had reached out to her once, when she’d been setting up a movie marathon, but had been rebuffed. 

“I think I’m about done with spending my days among goblins.” She’d said, and her words made one thing perfectly clear: once she’d gotten used to surface life, Gleep  _wasn’t_  planning on sticking around.

“I feel bad for her. She seems really lonely.” Dawn said one night, while helping Brutus set up his first email account. He snorted loudly, but as always, his vocal response was soft.

“She brought it on herself, you know. Never grew out of the old ways, where goblin killing goblin for the good resources was accepted. Can’t make friends when everyone’s worried you’re gonna stick them good, right?” Dawn shivered. Gleep always looked hungry for something, and now she knew what. “Besides, she and sire almost wed, once. She’s  _very_  insulted by his affection for your sister.” Her hand froze on the mouse.

“Say again?” Brutus sighed, then spoke slower, as if he thought her simple.

“Dawn, my king loves your sister very much. He just doesn’t know how to say it yet.” Dawn began to stamp her feet excitedly, bouncing into the air when she just couldn’t stay seated anymore.

“I  _knew_  it!” She yelled, throwing her arms around Brutus’ neck. He threw his hands into the air, chanting along with her. “Knew it, knew it, knew it!”

“Knew what?” He finally asked, and Dawn collapsed back into her chair.

“That my sister is full of it, that I  _wasn’t_  imagining all the chemistry between them, and that your king is in  _so much trouble_  for stringing Marianne along like this!” Brutus still looked confused, so Dawn bonked her forehead against his, the way she’d seen Steph do to Thane, whenever he got too stressed over human stuff he didn’t understand.

“Marianne loves Bog too.” She said, and his eyes lit up.

“Oh, good! It would have been just awful if she didn’t, don’t you think? So, how are we going to get them to stop being stubborn?” Dawn grinned.

For once, she and Brutus were on the same wavelength.


	12. Chapter 11

In the end, Dawn called a meeting, complete with a powerpoint presentation that Brutus kept interrupting to point out which parts he’d made. Midway through it, Steph raised her hand.

“I’d like to just say that I’m voting against calling this the ‘hook up our stupid family members’ committee, because most of us aren’t related to Bog and Marianne, and also, that name is kind of insulting.” Dawn sighed, massaging her temples.

“Okay, so how about we just call it Operation: Clueless Royals?” What was meant to be a joke instead got a low murmur of approval. “Right. Now that we’ve got that part taken care of, ideas? Anyone?” Steph’s hand shot up again.

“We could lock them in a-”

“ _No_.” Dawn said firmly. “Any ideas that don’t come from the movies?" Six sets of eyes stared at her. “ _Augh_  okay, fine. Four of us are in relationships, how’d those happen?”

“We came together  _on our own_.” Sunny called, and Dawn winced. “Dawn, I’m usually all about your plans. But do you know how mad Marianne would be if she knew we were all here, trying to decide the best way to squeeze her feelings out of her?”

“I’d be pretty mad, yeah.” Marianne stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. She wasn’t smiling.

In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to be holding the meeting in her living room.

“What’s this about? She demanded, continuing to block the door so the guilty parties couldn’t scatter. Griselda stood, clearing her throat.

“Marianne, please understand. We’re doing this for your own good. You put up a brave front, but we can all see you’re-” That was the final straw.

“Is that what this is?!” The goblins all winced from the pitch her voice had taken. “Some kind of... _love intervention_? Get out of my house.” She stepped to the side, and most of them rushed out. Griselda, however, stayed where she was. 

“Griselda, I hold you in very high regard, but I’m very, very angry right now. If you don’t leave on your own, I’m going to pick you up and carry you back to your own apartment, where you can explain to your son exactly what you were trying to do here tonight.” The older woman stood her ground, and Marianne sighed. She was calling her bluff. “Hey, I warned you.”

Griselda’s eyes widened as Marianne stalked forward, grabbing her by the arm and hoisting her in a fireman’s carry. “Dawn, when I come back, you’re in trouble too.” She warned, and her sister crossed her arms over her chest. Marianne wouldn’t do much worse than yell at her, but it wasn’t going to be fun.

* * *

 

She chose to take the stairs, because waiting for the elevator just wasn’t in the cards. Griselda didn’t  _look_  like she weighed more than a hundred pounds, but she was surprisingly solid.

“I can’t believe you guys would go behind my back like this.” Marianne said to her on the way up the stairs, trying to make herself sound less out of breath and more disappointed.

“Hey, I’m patient. The tension would have either resolved itself eventually, or killed you both. But Dawn’s young, she’s into the whole instant gratification thing. She’ll learn.” Griselda sighed, drumming her fingers on Marianne’s hip. “Hey, since you’ll be there anyway, you want some pickles? I got two huge jars of pickles at this deli the other day, but there’s no way I can eat them all before they go bad.” Marianne laughed, momentarily forgetting her anger. 

Back at her father’s house, she’d had her own pickle stash, which she shared with the goblins. Bog had been indifferent, but Griselda had absolutely adored them. It had been one of the little things they’d bonded over. Adjusting her grip on the gob, Marianne knocked on the door of the apartment.

“Pickles would be a good apology gift, yeah. Oh!” She hadn’t been expecting Bog to open the door so quickly. “Uh, special delivery.” His eyes went wide.

“Did she hurt herself? Mother, I’ve told you how fragile human bodies are, you  _can’t_  do all the things you used to-”

“She’s not hurt.” Marianne interrupted flatly, and he stopped talking. “She’s a meddler.” Bog’s eyes narrowed. There was only  _one_  thing Marianne could be talking about, and his mother had given him her  _word_  that she’d mind her own business.

“You don’t say.” He replied, leaning against the door casually. His mother was finally let down, and she skirted around him, muttering something about pickles. Bog sighed. “Whatever she said, or did, I apologize.” Marianne waved a hand at him.

“She wasn’t even the ringleader, Bog, it’s fine. I just, rrgh.” Her hands went up to fist in her hair, pulling the loose waves straight. “I’m so  _sick_  of people thinking, assuming... _seeing_  things that aren’t there.” His heart plummeted into his stomach.

They’d all been wrong. Her feelings for him were platonic, nothing more. And he was fine with that! Marianne was very smart, and funny. They could talk for hours because of the number of interests they shared. She made an excellent friend. 

He’d just have to remember not to let his longing show on his face from now on.

“Yeah.” He said quietly. “I know what you mean.” His voice sounded so sad, she stilled.

Bog’s entire frame had shifted, shoulders drawn tight in a downward-slanting line, thumbs hooked in the front pockets of jeans she recognized having helped him buy. “For casual stuff!” She’d insisted, and he’d deflected them until she found an identical pair in black. Camouflage instincts never really went away, it seemed. His mouth was in a neutral line, but his eyes were trying to drown her, drink her in. As if he thought he’d never see her again.

Marianne suddenly became self-conscious.

She was in her work clothes, which he’d seen her in a hundred times before. Her hair wasn’t doing anything particularly special, and alright, she’d been really proud of her eyeliner that morning, but that couldn’t be it.

“Bog?” She asked, cautious. “Are you alright?”

He wasn’t. 

They’d escaped their unwanted arranged marriage just in time for him to fall in love with her, but she didn’t feel the same. Depending on what his mother may have say, it was possible she  _knew_  how he felt. Pretending nothing was wrong would only hurt them both, in the long run.

“No.” He admitted, shrugging. “If I’m to be perfectly honest, I’m afraid.” Marianne tilted her head, waiting for him to continue. Bog sighed.

“I love being above ground. The lights are brighter, the stars are clearer, the air is so fresh. There are so many things to do, and to see, and you can choose to be whatever you want to. But beyond anything else, my favorite thing that’s happened since my Transformation was meeting you.”

Her jaw dropped.

Bog’s face was red all over, and  wasn’t looking at her, having chosen a spot somewhere over her left shoulder to stare at intently, so he missed her initial reaction. He certainly caught her second one, though. Marianne began to laugh.

“Wh- excuse you!” He sputtered, crossing his arms indignantly. “I’m trying to say something from the heart here, and you’re-”

“We’re both idiots.” Marianne choked out, clutching her stomach. Her sides were beginning to ache as well. “Don’t try and deny it, we are.” She owed Dawn an apology. Not for the love intervention, she’d still get a talking to about meddling like that, but for yelling at her the other night. For all the things she was naive about, the girl really  _did_  know something about love.

Her big sister could take care to learn a thing or two from her.

Bog looked less sad now, and more annoyed. He’d poured his heart out, and she’d laughed at him. “Are you done yet?” He even  _sounded_  annoyed, spitting his question at her like it tasted foul. Marianne took a deep breath.

“No, not yet.” She said, stepping forward. With a quick tug on the front of his shirt, Bog was suddenly at face level. Marianne took advantage of it, placing her hands on his cheeks and pulling his mouth onto hers.

His reaction was immediate, arms wrapping around her so tightly, he about picked her up off the ground. And then he  _did_  pick her up, and her legs locked around his waist. Behind him, Griselda had finally located the pickles, but turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen to avoid interrupting the moment. Eventually, though, they had to come up for air.

“What do we do now?” Bog asked, sounding dazed. Marianne grinned, leaning up to kiss him again.

“Whatever we want.” She replied, and he chuckled breathlessly.

“I had a whole plan, you know. Shouldn’t have taken more than three years.” He said sternly, though the twinkle in his eye was anything but. “Then you had to come up here and throw a wrench in my plans by beating me to the punch.”

“So many human phrases!” Marianne said in mock-wonder, bumping her nose against his. “Someone’s been practicing.” And then, he just couldn’t help it.

The smile on her face, the look in her eyes, the warmth of her body on his...Bog felt so much in that moment, he had to let her know.

“I love you.” He murmured, and found that this time, neither of them blushed.

“I know that now.” She replied, lips brushing his as she talked. “And I love you too.”

Eventually, they got out of the hallway. Eventually, Marianne apologized for yelling at the entire building. Eventually, some of Bog’s things found their way into Marianne’s closet, and vice versa. Eventually, they moved into a different apartment together, that  _wasn’t_  directly above or below a family relation.

For the moment, though, they just leaned into each other, basking in the peace they’d found.


End file.
